The Montana suffrage centennial activists are taking every opportunity to blow their bugles to announce some of the fabulous Montana women who put their lives on the line for equality and freedom. You can subscribe to the postings and be introduced to some of these individuals. Ella Knowles, known as the “Portia of the People,” is featured, and what she faced as an attorney is an eyeopener. When she started out as an attorney, she couldn’t take the bar exam because Montana law prevented women from doing so. She pressed the point and won. About fifty women were licensed to practice law by 1890 across the nation. The Montana suffrage web site has Ella’s life and accomplishments summarized, in addition to considerably more information. Follow Montana. It’s determined to get out the word in its suffrage centennial subscription series, “Women’s History Matters.” The Montana Historical Society is a driving force in the 2014 suffrage centennial and the impact is being noticed. During Women’s History Month, for example, these stories of Montana women are been diverse and fascinating.
A few examples during March that views the state’s women’s in the context of an ongoing social revolution: “Nannie Alderson: Pioneer Ranchwoman”(March 4); “Feminism Personified: Judy Smith and the Women’s Movement” (March 6); “Julia Ereaux Schultz, Health Advocate and Cultural Champion” (March 11); “Elizabeth Clare Prophet, the Church Universal and Triumphant, and the Creation of Utopia in Montana’s Paradise Valley” (March 13); “Behind Every Man: Nancy Cooper Russell” (March 18); “Legalized Midwifery: Montana Leads the Way” (March 20); “Men Were My Friends, but Women Were My Cause”: The Career and Feminism of Frances Edge” (March 25); “A ‘Compassionate Heart’ and ‘Keen Mind’: The Life of Doctor Caroline McGill” (March 27).
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